A squad of 15 talented school cricketers aged between 16-18 will be selected to represent the country against various South Australian school teams of similar age group in T20 matches as a part of the promotional activity for the upcoming 2015 ICC World Cup. The Premier of South Australia Jay Weatherill announced at a promotional event in Delhi on Wednesday that the student cricketers will get an opportunity to witness inaugural ICC World Cup match between India and Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval in 2015.

Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals is also involved in the project as their coaches would help in screening the talented boys during the trials which will be conducted in Delhi and Mumbai respectively and will be open to all students, who were born between January 1, 1997 to December 31, 1999. The selected 15 will be known as ‘Dream Team 15′.

South Australian Premier Weatherill said, “Our objective with this program is to harness the passion that Indians have for the game and provide an opportunity to good cricketers who have the skills and love for cricket, but have not enrolled in a formal training programme.” Former India U-19 captain Unmukt Chand, who was present at the function, said, “I am sure an exciting endeavor such as this will go a long way in inspiring young players to take up the sport professionally and one day, play for the country.”

On a different note, he was asked about Indian team’s poor performance in England, he said, “Cricket is like business. One day it goes up and another day, it comes down. Just like it does down, it again comes up. So the Indian team will again be up and running.”

First Published on August 20, 2014, 5:18 pmLast updated on August 20, 2014, 8:14 pm